I was very disappointed with the 'Newborn', or the Alien/human hybrid, and refuse to accept it/ acknowledge it at all. I liked it better when we had no power over or understanding of the alien life cycle, hence maintaining the 'alien' part.

However, I do see the other scenes and characters/ interactions in the flick as fun/enjoyable even if a bit strange, so, yeah. Good points, Jim!

Went through all of the Alien movies with my GF (she had never seen any of them) this actually turned out to be her favorite. I saw it as when it first came out (i was 9) and i enjoyed it then, when i re-watched it with her my opinion had not changed.

I really liked this movie, and IMO it was the best of the bunch. I saw it in the theater and we erupted in spontaneous applause when

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and then all bood when

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.

I think it also helps to see the director's previous movie Delicatessen, and maybe City of Lost Children, and then watch this one. You can really see how he gets mileage out of the interactions between the quirky and usually defective characters.

Also this movie has one of the best witty exchanges in the history of cinema.

I realized at the end of the movie that it was intentionally a dark comedy. The exchange between ron perlman, and the guy in the wheelchair when the ship is approaching earth .ron : Shit whats burningWheelchair guy: Us!Ron: Oh right, ahahahahahhhahahah;

It is said so campy and fantastic, there is no way to take this movie super seriously.

Nope, not with you on this one. Even looking at it as a comedy, it doesn't pass anything for me. The plot is utter non-sense and constantly inconsistent, not just with science (cloning does not work that way), or the Alien internal mythology, but with basic logic. Shit happens just for the sake of shit happening and then gets undone with a distant and dismissive handwave as if it expects us to just buy whatever shit it throws at us. If I wanted to see shit thrown around with no rhyme or reason, I'd go to the zoo and tease some monkeys. I expect better from something put together with the intent of telling a story.

I think it also helps to see the director's previous movie Delicatessen, and maybe City of Lost Children, and then watch this one. You can really see how he gets mileage out of the interactions between the quirky and usually defective characters.

It's also a quite distinctive aesthetic. I liked it very much when it came out, for that reason alone.

I always liked Alien Resurrection to a point. It's too much fun not to in places. It has some cool set pieces, amazing design aesthetics and a pretty interesting world. My problem with the newborn was the reveal. It was explained in an obviously ADR'd speech and the whole thing was rushed. That aside it IS creepy and it keeps in tune with my opinions about Aliens movies from 2 on, that they are about a mother battling the mother of another race. That said I don't really view it as a 'canon' movie. It's a really good sci-fi horror but not a good Aliens film. I have my Aliens movies and Ripley dies in 3. This is just a little spin off.

After I watched some more of Jean Pierre Jeunet, I felt like I got the tone of the movie on re-visiting it. Which is basically unlike anything hollywood can produce.

Also The Betty is total proto-Serenity. Whedon's ability to make ironic macho or cliche characters who are incredibly likable and while still being genuinely cool. There is a lot of subtly in the script considering the premise. From the marine who starts as a hostage but becomes a part of the team. The face hugged guy who you actually come to care about and hope he makes it. It's a solid movie. Finally anyone who watches the scene where the CO pulls a piece of his brain out and examines and is not convinced they are watching a darkly comic film really needs to lighten up/watch a wider range of movies

I really liked this movie, but do understand why some hate it so much.

It had some very memorable scenes, and say what you like, but the Clone Room scene is probably the creepiest scene in the whole Aliens franchise.

I also like to think of this movie as Firefly 0.1

And to quote Yatzhee, can't have enough of Ron "Did any of you make people cry with your performance in City of Lost Children?" Perlman.

The hybrid though... It succeeds at being creepy, I'll give it that, but it corrupts the central element of the series (the Aliens) way too much. Then again, nothing as disgusting as what they did with the Predalien in AvP:Requiem.

I thought it was Whedon who wrote the film as a parody (or at least, so he claims...); it was everyone else who played the script straight and obscured the whole comedy angle. At any rate, I refuse to give a pass to a movie whose intended meaning can only be derived by looking up what the creator(s) later said about it because the movie itself failed to communicate a consistent or coherent tone. A work of art must be able to stand on its own, full-stop.

Still, you can always count on Jim to bring up good points even when you disagree with his overall argument. The chief example in this case is the Newborn, which I also quite liked in spite of my instincts screaming at me that I shouldn't. In its five minutes of screentime, it conveyed a more diverse range of emotions than the entire rest of the film. The practical effects work in general is great, particularly the xenomorph costumes, and even some of the CG stuff looks good (like the laser-activated glass of beer). Plus, Sigourney Weaver's performance, nicely distinct from those she gave in the previous movies in fitting with the significantly altered version of Ripley, once again elevates the material surrounding her, especially in the scenes where she first meets Winona Ryder's character and comes across the lab full of failed clones.

bandit0802:My only problem with this movie (and I've only seen it once): Winona Ryder. My only problem with Star Trek 2009: Winona Ryder. My only problem with Mr. Deeds: Winona Ryder.

Can someone please just make her go away? And digitally insert someone with actual talent into every role she's ever played ever?

I'll watch any film with Winona Ryder just to stare at Winona Ryder. That's a small club: Marlee Matlin, Catherine Keener, Mary Louise Parker, too name a few. She does a particularly memorable cyborg too.

PS: Nothing personal, but just because I can't let this slide. Talent? Maybe you are just jealous of Winona Ryder. She's always believable if not enchanting, you can't ask for more than that from an actor. All you can do is find a different actor. Blame casting.

EDITED: I don't know why these films must always have their cast of misfits. That approach ruined Prometheus. It's a trope that needs to die. There's a reason after all that support characters are called support characters. Think about it.

Thank you, Jim. Thank you. I have been enjoying this movie since it came out, and I always got the strangest looks when I said that I really liked it. Mind you, I defended the film by saying it was a French movie with the Aliens license. Having seen Jeunet's other films, I had a better grasp on what I was getting into.Also, huzzah, Dominique Pinon!

I like Resurrection even though I've never thought of seeing it as a comedy. Looking back at some of the scenes it almost seems obvious now.I think I actually enjoy watching it more than 3.It is a very weird movie in parts but it's got it's moments.Didn't like Perlman much in this though.

The biggest issue I take with Resurrection is how it takes the series' core themes of the masculine fear of sexuality, both hetero and homo, and protective motherhood and turns it into a campy, shallow lesbian fantasy. It's even more surprising and disappointing coming from Joss Whedon who writes very fine female characters.

It's an issue so large it blocks out any pulpy enjoyment I could have with it.

I didn't think this movie was so bad. Although the way they brought back Ripley was reeeeealy contrived. Like how the hell were they able to separate her DNA from that of the Xenomporph for the cloning process?

Also The Betty is total proto-Serenity. Whedon's ability to make ironic macho or cliche characters who are incredibly likable and while still being genuinely cool. There is a lot of subtly in the script considering the premise. From the marine who starts as a hostage but becomes a part of the team. The face hugged guy who you actually come to care about and hope he makes it. It's a solid movie. Finally anyone who watches the scene where the CO pulls a piece of his brain out and examines and is not convinced they are watching a darkly comic film really needs to lighten up/watch a wider range of movies

This. This is the one reason that I actually like this movie. The crew of the Betty, their wonderful interaction, and how we can see the beginnings of the idea that led to Firefly and Serenity there.

I love the Alien films (well the first three) and I love Firefly, But I can't stand this film. I don't care that is was supposed to be a comedy, I just don't think it fits with the feel of the other films. It doesn't feel like an Alien film where as 3 (having some problems of its own) seems to have the tone stay consistent with the other movies that came before. I guess really the 180 turn from Scifi horror/action to comedy just doesn't work for me. If I had to explain another way I would say it would be like going from "The Dark Knight's" gritty realistic feel the campy, over-the-top comedy feel of "Batman and Robin."

My complaints come from the writer. He wrote a bad movie and does not want to admit it. Guys, I read the original Starlog interviews where he proudly proclaims the movie is good, the actors were reading his script correctly, and everything else he complained about as being bad when the critics did not like it. Whedon was involved with making a bad movie, but refuses to cop to it.

You know who else wrote a bad movie? Bill Cosby. Leonard Part 6 is a terrible movie, but Cosby admitted it.

I remember enjoying it when I saw it, particularly Weaver and Perlman's performances. It may help that I don't feel the same sort of urgent need to protect "Alien" as one of the defining works of our generation that some feel burdened by. The monster designs are great, and there have been some terrific movies made in the series- but the movies are all so different from one another that I've never felt a need to go, "Oh, that's not Alien, how can they do that."

I'm glad I'm not the only person who thought this was an absurdist comedy. When I realized that the director was French the whole thing made a lot more sense, and taking into account the circumstances under which that film was made (i.e. by the choice of executives, not the people usually associated with the Alien franchise) I gathered that the production team had basically been given a closed, already-concluded IP to work with and knew it, and had figured out that the only way this movie was going to be workable was as a subtly self-aware comedy.

That said, it is in no way a good movie; it still has its problems even in that new light (especially when one takes into account how poorly it managed to communicate that it was, in fact, a comedy), but it's not an abomination by any means. I really do like how it's shot, and a lot of the shots with the xenomorphs is really excellent cinematography (I believe this may be the last time the Alien Queen puppet was used before the CGI version showed up in AVP, and she is gorgeous).

I'm thoroughly a fan of the Alien Quadrilogy, front to back, each film for its own reasons. If you go on to defend any of the AVP's, however, I'll draw the line there and I'll say so, godammit. [nudge, lol]

I also recognized the humor in the movie right away. I didn't think anybody could watch a man use a breathalizer to open a door and still expect "serious sci-fi horror".

Even though I was extremely weirded out by it, mostly the final act, that's part of why I like it so much. One thing I've always respected most about the series is that each film has its own style. After the first film went horror, the second went action, and the third went dramatic, I was happy that the fourth didn't try to retread any of those. I'm actually still sad that they never made a fifth. Regardless of what style they would have chosen to go with, it still feels like the story is incomplete, and judging from where the narrative left us off, the final film would have to involve Ripley actually becoming the Alien to bring it full circle and unify the series.

"You've been in my life so long, I can't remember anything else."

...Also, surprised you didn't mention that Ripley's no-look swish wasn't a special effect.

I liked this one myself, but than for some reason I never really expected more than a comic book style action movie, if slightly dark. Not sure why that's what I was expecting but it was. But if you compare it to modern super hero movies like Avengers (I know Joss Whedon), or even Iron man and the like, there's a certain juvenile humour to them, and Alien Resurrection has much of the same. But than I watched it when I was juvenile so that probably helps my appreciation of it.

Not sure why everyone hates Winona, She plays a rather specific type of character, but no worse than many other actors out there.